Feather loss around back end, red skin and irritation

[zarla]

Hi guys,
I've been keeping hens for about 12 years and NEVER had anything like this happen before. I had one hen with a bloody bottom, swollen, infected back end about 2months ago.
I bathed her with antibacterial stuff, salt baths, and the Vet gave antibiotics for the generalised infection. She looked a bit droopy for a few days, but was fine.
I put her back in with the others about three weeks ago and now there are four more with the same condition, and the original hen has it back too!

When I discovered her problem originally, I treated the whole shed for lice/mites etc. I also treated each hen for lice, they didn't seem to have a big load, but they all seemed to be sorted in the treatment-nothing left.

Is there anything else you guys can think of that could be causing it? I keep em on straw, and have done all winter. It never gets VERY dirty, I cleam em regularly.

The hens seem to be fine in themselves, is it worth me treating them again for lice? Or should I be looking for something else?

Their diet is layers pellets, corn, veg peelings/scraps occasionally, and fresh weeds from the garden. They cannot freerange bacause our place isn't safe for them to do so.

HELP! PLEASE!

Zarla

 

[jerseygirl1]

I am new at this, only a year or so, but from what I've read on here and was told from a breeder, straw harbors lice and mites and pine bedding would be the best to use. ALso, are you using DE in the coop or some kind of poultry dust? Was the coop totally disinfected, walls, also with a bleach solution?

 

[Intheswamp]

Could they be getting pecked by psychotic chicken?

Ed

ETA: x2 what jerseygirl1 said, too. Straw.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
Tell us how many times did you treat each hen for lice/mites?

You see the stuff you likely used only gets the current crop and does nothing for the eggs which are likely all over the place.

This requires another treatment so many days from the first, it is even possible that other treatments will be needed after that if you didn't get them all killed in the coop and run.

 

[zarla]

I'm just about to treat them again, any idea how long i should leave between treatments so as to get the eggs too?
I use a headlice treatment from the chemist, slightly diluted to treat them. worked a treat on the live ones, and it said it would do the eggs too.

Never mind, i'm happy to keep treatimg them they don''t mind, and they smell like lavender when ive finished!!!!!
Z